Good point, and interesting. In this respect, university is a bit like the military, (if reports are accurate), where the project is not the point of the project, but rather, learning to receive without thought the arbitrary structures and demands of the hierarchy, while being bonded to one's peers through the solidarity of suffering and trauma, is the point of the project. "This part isn't about the virus, is it? It's about obeying, about doing what you're told." James Cole, 12 Monkeys
I have a brighter view. When faced with a system that is complicated and unreasonable, you are challenged to get creative, and to make something better of it. Whereas the military has little tolerance for creativity, higher education often rewards it, or at the very least, tolerates it. In some ways, adversity is a gift, and ambivalence is a vacuum waiting to be filled. We step into a world of adversity and ambivalence. IMO a good education ought to reflect that.